Arkansas Football Notes – Watch Lists, New Football Coach, Video

Three Arkansas football players were named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List. They are Razorbacks running backs Jonathan Williams and Kiero Small and Arkansas State University Red Wolves running back David Oku.

The Doak Walker Award is given annually by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum Board of Directors. That board will name the semifinalists on Nov. 14, and the Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will cast votes to determine the finalists, who will be announced on Nov. 25. The committee will cast a second vote beginning on Dec. 2 to determine the recipient. The National Selection Committee consists of former NFL All-Pro and college All-America running backs, media members and selected special representatives.

The recipient of the 2013 Doak Walker Award will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 12, on ESPN. The Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet will be held in Dallas, Texas, in Feb. 2013.

Reddies QB Kevin Rodgers Nominated for Good Works Team

Henderson State Reddies Quarterback Kevin Rodgers

Henderson State University quarterback Kevin Rodgers has been nominated for the 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

The junior from Rockwall, Texas is one of a record 151 candidates vying to be named to the prestigious 22-man squad, which honors college football players at all levels of the sport for their selfless acts of giving back to the community and off-the-field achievements.

Rodgers, a 2012 Harlon Hill Trophy candidate, was the only Great American Conference student-athlete nominated for the 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®. He is one of 18 candidates from NCAA Division II institutions, including 2012 Harlon Hill Trophy candidates John Brown from Pittsburg State, Phillip Klaphake from St. Cloud State and Dusty Vaughan from West Texas A&M.

Last season, Rodgers unanimously claimed the GAC Offensive Player of the Year award. He threw for 4,002 yards and 41 touchdowns and earned two national Player of the Week honors and the Beyond Sports College Network named him an All-American. Rodgers was named GAC Offensive Player of the Week a record six times and averaged a national best 14.77 yards per pass completion and 9.78 yards per pass attempt..

From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® members and prominent college football media members will select the 2013 Good Works Team.® Comprised of 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 11 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III, and the NAIA, the final roster of 22 award recipients will be unveiled in September.

Allstate and the AFCA will launch the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® website on ESPN.com, featuring profiles and images of the final team members, as well as the opportunity for fans to vote for the 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® Captain.

The 2013 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® voting panel includes: former Good Works Team® members Zaid Abdul-Aleem (Duke, 1994 team), Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia, 1997, 1998 teams), Brian Brenberg (St. Thomas, 2001 team), Mike Proman (Amherst, 2002 team); media members Lou Holtz (ESPN), Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN), Tom O’Toole (USA Today), Blair Kerkhoff (Kansas City Star); current AFCA President and University of Texas Head Coach Mack Brown; 1987 AFCA President LaVell Edwards, former head coach at Brigham Young University; and Cynthia Whitfield, field vice president of Allstate’s Southern Region.

In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved and committed to working with a charitable organization, service group or community service while maintaining a strong academic standing.
Nick Finley was the first Reddie named to the Allstate/American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team®. The defensive tackle earned the award in 2008.
Finley was the only representative from Arkansas as well as the Gulf South Conference chosen to the team, and was one of just three players from NCAA Division II.